Koblenz Regional Finance Office

"Managed BS2000 is exactly the solution we need. The system delivers the flexibility and reliability required for standardized tax processing, and it ensures that our data center operations are very efficient."

The tax and finance administration in Rhineland-Palatinate

OFD Koblenz was established in 1950 and comprises three departments: the income tax and transfer tax department, the central state payroll department, and the federal buildings department. OFD also supervises the 26 local tax administration offices located throughout Rhineland-Palatinate. A total of 7,900 people are employed in this regional organization to provide citizens and government with efficient services and support in matters related to taxation and revenue.

Standardized taxation processes throughout Germany

“Evolutionary-Oriented Taxation Software” (EOSS) is the approach taken by all states in Germany to standardize their processes and procedures as part of the KONSENS (Coordinated New Software Development for Tax Administration) project. EOSS is being introduced as part of the KONSENS Stage I in each state, which means that the old mainframe applications running on the BS2000/OSD platform will gradually need to be replaced.

Greater performance requirements can be expected

To make sure that this large-scale transformation runs smoothly, the system platform must have sufficient performance reserves. The target set by OFD Koblenz was that the platform responds to the enormous increase in processing demands for a minimum of four years. Before embarking on this project, the experts at OFD Koblenz thoroughly analyzed their system. It was evident that performance limits would be reached within 24 months at the latest.

Managed BS2000 ensures maximum flexibility and efficiency

Managed BS2000 from Fujitsu was the ideal choice for OFD Koblenz because the system efficiently responds to steadily growing performance requirements: The core of the solution involved installing a newer generation BS2000/OSD Business Server S175. This was accomplished without any need for up-front investments from OFD Koblenz. Instead, the costs for hardware and software will be charged on a “pay as you go” usage-based model during the contract period. The arrangement also includes proactive and reactive services from Fujitsu that will guarantee high system availability. The advantages of this approach are obvious: By generating taxation processes, increasing demands for more performance can be met without straining the IT budget, and all tasks will still be completed with the usual high level of quality.

BS2000/OSD makes tax administration more efficient

The taxation authorities in Germany are heading toward the use of standardized administration software. The ultimate goal of their cooperative project is to launch automated processes based on KONSENS throughout the country, which will help reduce development and maintenance costs. The important milestone, KONSENS I, involves the harmonization of the mainframe-based taxation processes. The platform that runs these processes is BS2000/OSD from Fujitsu, a system known for its long-term compatibility, high flexibility and availability, plus outstanding scalability and robustness – not to mention automation and easy administration – which all lead to higher efficiency in administrative environments.